Touchpad, display apparatus, and method for controlling touchpad

Abstract

A touchpad including a proximity detector configured to generate a proximity event by detecting whether an object is close to a touch surface, a coordinate recognizer configured to select one from among a relative coordinate mapping mode and an absolute coordinate mapping mode based on the proximity event and to predict coordinates of a touch point to be touched by the object, using the selected coordinate mapping mode, and a controller configured to control output of information about the predicted coordinates, is disclosed. If an object is close to a touch surface of a touchpad, it is predicted that a user desires to select a target. In this case, interaction with the user may be reduced by predicting and displaying a location to be touched by the object based on proximity of the object.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2013-0000984, filed on Jan. 4, 2013 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND[0002]1. Field[0003]Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to a touchpad capable of improving touch recognition accuracy and speed, a display apparatus communicating with the touchpad, and a method for controlling the touchpad.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]Unlike previous analog devices, multimedia devices such as a smart TV, a set-top box, a digital video disc (DVD) player, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a mobile smart device (e.g., a smartphone) include a variety of applications in a graphical user interface (GUI) environment.[0006]Applications in a multimedia device are selected due to a signal input using an input device such as an infrared (IR) rem...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0037]Switching of the absolute coordinate mapping mode to the relative coordinate mapping mode comprises gradually reducing a first control display (CD) gain.

Problems solved by technology

When an application is manipulated using the IR remote controller, there are a large number of restrictions and much inconvenience.

In the case of a touchscreen in which a touchpad is formed on a display, manufacturing costs are raised because the size of the touchpad is increased in proportion to the size of the display, and inconvenience is caused because a user should get close to the touchscreen for manipulation.

For example, if a 70-inch plasma display panel (PDP) TV includes a touchscreen, high manufacturing costs are required and a user experiences inconvenience to touch spots over a large screen.

Particularly, in the case of a device having a large display, for example, a smart TV, the clutching operations are a main cause of performance reduction with regard to manipulating a cursor on a screen.

Using the absolute coordinate mapping scheme, a user may instinctively and rapidly access an approximate location on a screen but may not easily achieve accurate selection of one of small and dense targets such as links to web pages.

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